


did you hear the slamming door?

by CamsthiSky



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Comics), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Arguing, Brotherly Affection, Family, Family Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Takes Place Right After Splinter Takes Over The Foot Clan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CamsthiSky/pseuds/CamsthiSky
Summary: A forced family reunion that starts with Mikey getting hurt and ends with Raph thinking that maybe his little brother might be onto something after all.
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54





	did you hear the slamming door?

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy some brother angst bc i will never be over mikey feeling like he can’t stay with his family
> 
> also the amount of chapters may change, this is just what i’ve outlined for this story

“Shiitake mushrooms, don’t even  _ think _ about dying on me, Mikey,” Raph says, anger flooding his veins as he lugs the limp body of his brother through the sewer tunnel. He doesn’t think he’s  _ ever _ been angrier than this. Probably. Maybe. 

Whatever, he’s tired and ready to kick both Mikey’s and that foot soldier's ass. Unfortunately, that anger literally has no place to go but through gritted teeth, taking the form of hissed threats.

“I swear,” Raph says to his unconscious baby brother. “I swear, if you die on me, I’ll find a way to bring you back to life before killing you myself, and let me tell you, Mikey, it ain’t gonna be pretty. So you better  _ stay alive _ .”

Raph refuses to acknowledge the encroaching fear that his anger is trying to mask. He’s always been good at denial, after all. All of them have. 

Well, all of them but Mikey.

Mikey’s always been weirdly good about balancing out what he should and shouldn’t acknowledge. He can be so oblivious about some things, but his emotions have never been one of them.

Sometimes, Raph wishes he had Mikey’s temperament. Then maybe they wouldn’t be in this situation. 

“Raph!”

Oh, thank god. Leo.

“Raph, where have you— _ Mikey?!” _

“What happened to him?!”

And Donnie. Great, did everyone come out here to see his fuck up? Was their dad out here, too? Ready to tear Raph a new one for getting their baby brother caught back up in their mess?

Leo got angry, just as angry as Raph sometimes, and that—that Raph can handle. He can fight anger with anger. His candle practically burns rage at every moment. 

What he doesn’t think he can handle as well is Donnie’s disappointment and concern.

When he speaks, he avoids Don’s eyes, and instead meets Leo’s. His own voice comes out low and dangerous. He’s  _ mad _ . “It was the Foot.”

Leo, hands stretched out like he’s about to take Mikey from Raph’s careful hold—slumped over Raph in a piggyback, head leaning forward against Raph’s neck, Raph’s hands underneath his thighs in a hold that should be something fun and light and is instead quiet and sombering and—well, anyways, at Raph’s words, Leo freezes. 

Behind him, Donnie’s mouth tightens into a grim line.

They both look as confused as Raph had felt an hour ago.

“The Foot?” Donnie wonders, his voice tinted with uncertainty. “But—”

“We’re the Foot,” Leo interrupts, his voice cold and harsh, and it takes all Raph has not to flinch. Sometimes he really does understand why Mikey left when he did.

Still, the cowering fear from his brother’s coldness turns right back around into indignation.

“Yeah,” Raph growls, trying to breathe through the new rising anger—at himself mostly, but it’s going to end up directed at Leo, too, if this conversation continues. “‘Cept so are they. Some faction of the Foot Clan that’s still loyal to the old ways.”

“There are Foot who won’t follow Master Splinter?” Leo asks, still harsh, but almost bewildered, like he can’t even fathom the idea. 

Behind Leo, Donnie just looks tired.

“You’re saying that like Mikey didn’t up and leave the moment Master Splinter became the Foot Clan leader,” Raph spits out. “Not everyone is open to change like this, Leo. Get your head out of your ass.”

“Don’t you dare—”

“Are you kidding me, right now?” Donnie snaps, cutting Leo off before he can say something that’ll have Raph storming off, probably with Mikey in tow, considering Raph almost forgot he was even carrying the kid. “You guys need to knock it off. Mikey’s hurt and what he doesn’t need is to wake up from unconsciousness to you two bickering like old ladies gunning for the last brownie at a bake sale.”

Descriptive. Probably not untrue. Raph wishes he wasn’t in such a bad mood, because he’d probably appreciate the comparison a lot more.

“Okay, fine,” Raph says, blowing out his breath like the rest of his anger will blow out, too. Doesn’t work. Never works. Raph tries to move on. “So what do we even do with him?”

“With Mikey?” Leo asks, sounding confused.

Raph hitches Mikey higher onto his shell when he starts to slide off. “Yeah, dumbass. With Mikey. Who doesn’t exactly live with us anymore. Who—who left us.”

“Treat him,” Donnie says, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. His eyes blaze with several emotions, but determination is bright and clear. “He’s our brother, right? So we take care of him for now, and when he wakes up, we let him go.”

Raph’s mouth mashes together to form a line of discontent. He’d just gotten his brother back after an entire two weeks of silence from him, and the first thing that happens when they meet up to talk again is getting  _ attacked _ by the  _ Foot Clan _ .

“What?” Leo says, gaping at Donnie. “You can’t be serious. I thought we were trying to get the four of us all back together.”

“You can’t force him to live how you want him to,” Raph practically snarls, following Don as he starts back through the tunnels toward the Foot’s base. “He’s his own turtle. Don’t take that away from him.”

Leo frowns, but follows them nonetheless.

“I wasn’t going to—”

“I know,” Raph cuts in. His anger finally fizzles out. “I get it. I want him back as much as anyone else, but as much as I hate to say it—and I  _ really _ hate to say it—it’s gonna take time.”

“When did you get so mature?”

“We’ve been through a lot,” is all Raph offers. 

Leo sighs. “Yeah. I guess we have.”

The rest of their journey is spent in somber silence, and Raph can’t help but wish that this was some sort of bad dream.


End file.
